A glance at Georgia State with AJC’s Doug Roberson

The Houston Cougars host a Football Championship Subdivision squad, the only such squad on the schedule this season, when Georgia State comes to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Robertson Stadium.

Doug Roberson, who covers the Panthers for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, answered a few questions for us about the young program, which is just in its second season of existence under coach Bill Curry.

Q: Through three games, how much progress have you seen in the team and the program compared to where the Panthers were in their inaugural season last year?

Roberson: Statistically, they don’t seem better. Their rush defense is significantly worse, while the offense is breaking in a new starting quarterback, Bo Schlechter, and working a new running back, transfer Donald Russell, into the rotation. The special teams, solid a year ago, have been a nightmare. Two punts were blocked and returned for touchdowns and another was partially blocked, which later led to a touchdown. Coach Bill Curry has taken most of the blame, saying he and his staff haven’t had the team prepared.

Q: Give me a name of a player that is worth watching and why.

Roberson: Bo Schlechter isn’t as good a passer as Drew Little, or a runner as Kelton Hill, but he has shown flashes of being a good quarterback. He’s very good with passes down the middle of the field, and erratic with throws to the sidelines. He’s a tough runner on option plays. However, Schlechter may not see as much playing time as in the first three games. Little has been pushing for more minutes and Hill may also offer a change-of-pace.

Q: How will the injury to receiver and return specialist Albert Wilson affect the Panthers?

Roberson: Wilson was the most dangerous weapon the Panthers had on offense and special teams. His speed and elusiveness can’t be matched by any other players on the roster.

Q: What are your expectations for how the team will fare the remainder of this season?

Roberson: I can see the team losing at least five more games because neither the offense, defense nor special teams are playing with any consistency. They need to establish a running game and they need to show they can at least slow down running attacks.

Q: With this being only the second FBS team that Georgia State has played, how competitive do you expect the Panthers to be on Saturday?

Roberson: Unless Houston puts together two halves like last week’s first half against Louisiana Tech, and the Panthers play error-free, this game won’t be close.

This does not seem to be nor will it be much of a matchup. Keenum and the runnung backs are going have a field day. Kinda sucks in a way, because Keenum will get yanked early, and won’t get to put up some big stats. TRUST ME, this will be no repeat of UNT or La Tech. I just hope there are no injuries……Go Coogs !!

This is a lose-lose game for UH as it won’t matter what the score is. Those years with MissSt/OklaSt are probably gone forever as they don’t want to play against a good UH squad anymore and thanks to our shortsighted AD years ago, UT will never play UH in a scheduled game with the Cougars unwilling to move from tiny Roberston to either Rice or Reliant Stadiums to allow all the UT alums living in Houston area to get tix. Please don’t embarrass this Georgia St team by running-up the score.

UH unwillingness to move to Reliant is the surface reason. The truth is why UT wants to give UH a chance to get national exposure. At least, ATM told that straight to UH’s face – WE DON’T WANT TO PLAY YOU ANYWHERE ANYTIME.

Last year, Alabama played this very same team, Georgia State, in TUSCALOOSA and the attendance is 101821. So, there is no reason for us to whine and not fill The ROB. We should come and watch our Coogs to play regardless of the opponents. This is the time that our team needs us the most. Please fill the ROB for the remaining games.

Doug left a few key things out. I’ve been following the program two years before its inaugural season so I’ll add a few more comments.

1. Our team is more talented than last year and the statistics don’t show this because of our inconsistencies at QB and failed implementation of the 3-4 defense. Bo is an incredible athlete who can play wide receiver and with practice can be an elite punter (averaged 40 yards a punt last year). But he was the 4th string QB last year for a reason. Due to these inconsistencies our offense has been less than stellar and our defense has had to deal with several 3 and outs which we know wears a defense down. We run a 3-4 but we are bout two or three guys short from successfully implementing the 3-4 (our starting NG is 270 pounds!). We have been atrocious against the run giving up 240 + yards on the ground against the Jacksonville State and Old Dominion.

2. On defense…Watch Christo Bulikidi at DE. He’s our most consistent player and has garnered interest from the CFL (Top 15 CFL draft prospect). Good size and good motor. Also, keep an eye on Demazio Skelton at Safety and Dmario Gunn at corner. Our two best players in the secondary that can make big plays. On offense…keep an eye out for Drew Little. (6’5 245) Curry has started Bo Schectler but our offensive responds to Drew very well. Drew was our starting quarterback last year who threw for 2100 yards, 18 TD’s and 11 picks (4 against Alabama) with a 62 percent completion percentage. He’s by far our best quarterback with good accuracy and the ability to read through his progressions. Also, keep an eye out for #20 Donald Russell our transfer running back from Kentucky. He’s short and stocky but has great balance and good lean when running the ball. #21 Travis Evans is a speed back who is nice complement to D Russ an doesn’t lack the confidence to run hard against anyone.

3. Albert Wilson has been our best player thus far and his injury will hurt us this tremendously. He had 6 catches for 146 against Jacksonville State. He is fastest person on our team. If you are interested in seeing his speed, you tube “albert wilson alabama” to see his phenomenal Kick Return against Alabama (our only points in this game btw).

4. We will drop probably a 2-3 more games this season but we will remain competitive. South Alabama, Murray State, and South Carolina State will be our toughest remaining games. Each of these games are a toss up. With our momentum from last season there wouldn’t be a problem for me to say we could have easily taken two of these teams. But Georgia State isnt playing as well as last year(overall; some areas have improved like the running game).

5. We all expect this to be a blow out. Panther fans are not thinking upset but eager to see growth from week to week. We might surprise the coog fans in a couple of areas. Hopefully, we’ll be competitive for a quarter, take the ass whooping and go home with a check. But i will say this, I saw comment that the cougs should start there 3rd string. I wouldn’t advise this as our team played ok against Alabama’s second string and played good against Alabama’s third String. Our team’s talent base consists of Freshmen and Sophomore’s from Florida and Georgia who know how to play football.

Overall we are excited about GSU football and hope to play Houston again! Good luck to the cougs and Case Keenum this year.

During the summer, Doug wrote that Malcolm Smith, was a running back to watch and was given high praises by Coach Curry; however, during the four games, I have not seen him play. Also, I noticed during the first game, he had an M on his helmet and from what I read in the gamebook, it is an honor to receive such an award. What has happened to Malcolm Smith, is he still on the team, is he injured, has he been suspended?